Looking Back: Scrapbook gives soldier’s view of World War I

World War I has slipped into lesser significance for many of us in modern times, what with all the major historical events which have followed it; and after all, it was nearly a century ago.

By Harriett Gustason

Journal Standard

By Harriett Gustason

Posted May. 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 27, 2013 at 3:39 PM

By Harriett Gustason

Posted May. 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 27, 2013 at 3:39 PM

FREEPORT

World War I has slipped into lesser significance for many of us in modern times, what with all the major historical events which have followed it; and after all, it was nearly a century ago.

But there are citizens alive today who were acquainted with military veterans of that era. My own uncle, an elder brother of my father, carried a steel plate in his head for the remainder of his life due to wounds received while serving in France during World War I. My mother’s brother, my Uncle Bill, also served in World War I, but I never heard him speak of it.

I only remember my elder brother saying how striking he looked in uniform when he was getting off the train on his arrival home.

A World War I Document

Sylvia Garnhart Nelson of Freeport, though she did not know her great-uncle, has the scrapbook that he, Carl Lewis Jurgensmeier, kept of his Army service in France during World War I. Jurgensmeier had operated a Cadillac dealership in Freeport before being called to war. He was the son of William and Elizabeth Jurgensmeier who lived on Ottawa Street in Freeport. William was a well-known brick layer and contractor, Sylvia said. She said Carl’s wife Myrl had visited him at an Army camp “when she was single, and came back married.”

Sylvia’s grandmother, Molly Jurgensmeier Garnhart, was a sister to the soldier. Sylvia’s father was Molly’s son, the late Dwight Garnhart, well-known photographer for many years around the Freeport area. Dwight did much of the picture taking for The Freeport Journal-Standard in his day.

Photos Tell Story

The Jurgensmeier scrapbook is aged and brittle, but the photos in it, though some dark and dim, show some of the graphic side of that war. The war Lasted from July 28, 1914, to Nov. 11, 1918, but the United States was only a “formal participant” from April 6, 1917, until the war’s end on Nov. 11, 1918.

Being well-versed in the automobile business, Carl Jurgensmeier served most of his time during the war in southern France attached to a motor corps. In a letter fastened in the book he tells of driving from Marseille to Nimes, France, to, it appears, deliver a Dodge automobile to a colonel and then drive back in something of a rattle trap.

He went into this unfamiliar territory as he said “all by my lonesome.”

He tells of a gasoline shortage there and of being issued government rations for food along the way. Jurgensmeier thought the scenery beautiful, and after finding the Colonel and delivering the Dodge to him, Jurgensmeier found the hotel room reserved for him quite comfortable “with one of those soft French beds.”

Soldiers on Leave

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Jurgensmeier tells of another trip he took with other soldiers for what was apparently a short furlough. The soldier tells of the 16 men riding the train operated by a French crew for 210 miles to a hotel named “Beau Rivage” along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea “about six blocks from the Franco-Italian border.

They were given “a very fine room” and they “certainly did enjoy our eats too, believe me. It was some change from the Army grub.” The remainder of the time off, he said, they had to themselves, “no Army regulations, only a few restrictions which we were glad to enforce.” They did some hiking in the Alps and took a few “snaps,” or pictures, of the views.

In the evening they went to the “Casina” or the YMCA and saw what he called “a very fine vaudeville,” and were entertained by Miss Ruth Williamson and the famous violinist Lt. McMillin. They visited another YMCA and later rented a car and rode through the Alps. They visited a perfume factory, “the greatest perfume factory in the world.”

They saw how the perfumes were made “from start to finish,” and prepared for export. They went through Nice, France, and thought it a very scenic place. They saw many resorts with all kinds of flowers and palms.

On one of their motor tours they saw lots of caves and tunnels along with a few forts. “We took our dinner along and had one of our old time picnic dinners,” Jurgensmeier wrote.

At another YMCA — they visited several — they heard “all kinds of music by the band and a French orchestra.” They found the people there very kind. The boys were served “very fine chocolate and (other) eats” and “the folks treated the boys to the best that could be had.”

Something Missing?

We did not find in any of Jurgensmeier’s narrative, nor in his clippings, any mention of participation in battle. The pictures do show a few gruesome scenes of skeletal remains on battlefields and scenes of soldiers lined up in trenches, and there are also pictures of aircraft and automobiles of that era, but few if any of actual fighting.

The age and size of the photos diminish the clarity of the scenery, but there are a few of them which tell the grim story of that war’s destruction.

The good news was, Sgt. Jurgensmeier did get back home safely. A small clipping tells of his soon-to-be arrival home.

There is also a telegram pasted on one page directed to Mrs. C.L. Jurgensmeier at 153 Lincoln Ave., Freeport, telling her he “arrived in New York safely on the Panama.”

Sylvia Nelson said Carl sold the Cadillac business after his return and went into the building business as a contractor with his father. She said he did that until the day he died. The Jurgensmeiers built many buildings here, she said.

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The stories of World War I and America’s involvement in it have rather taken a back seat so to speak, but World War I was a crucial time in this nation’s history.

So the clippings and the photos in this scrapbook, though faded from age, are valid recordings of history, showing the men in the trenches, the automobiles, the aircraft of that day, and a bit of the weaponry of that war. This relic is like unto many that may be stashed away in some trunk or attic. They are keepers and should be preserved.

It is advisable when artifacts and memorabilia like this are found, that they be appraised by someone knowledgeable.

We suggest taking them locally to Ed Finch, director of the Stephenson County Historical Society, for advisement. These things offer a more intimate view of the human side to history.

Harriett Gustason is a writer for The Journal-Standard. She can be reached at (815) 235-3855 or hg3855@comcast.net.